Storage device Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Storage device - Essay Example RAM, graphic card memory and cache are the common primary storage devices, and they hold data from secondary devices while it is being used by the computer. The primary memory does not store data for future use due to its small size and lack of capability to store data permanently since they require continuous electric current as opposed to magnetism in secondary devices. RAM has high speed and is accessed with minimal delays due to its direct connection to the CPU via memory buses. RAM is mainly used to store data located in programs and operating system and hence it is necessary that every computer has a secondary device for data storage. Secondary storage is also known as auxiliary storage and is defined as any storage devices that are volatile and may be located inside or outside the computer. Secondary storage devices serve as an addition to the primary memory, and their function is to store data permanently. Secondary storage devices can store data ranging from megabytes to petabytes depending on their storage capacity (Matick 18). Such devices store the installed applications, the operating system, drivers and any other information that the computer user is willing to save. Secondary storage devices do not have a direct connection to the CPU and instead they receive and send data to the CPU through I/O buses. The speed of the secondary storage devices is considerably as compared to that of the RAM and hence cannot transfer data quickly. These devices are advantageous since they store data magnetically, and it is retained once the computer is switched off. The most common type of secondary storage device is an internal hard drive, but there exists many other forms of secondary storage e.g. DVSs, floppy disks, external hard disks, am flash discs. Most secondary storage devices have speeds ranging from 3600RPM TO 7200RPM and are nonvolatile therefore being reliable in data storage and backup (Matick 18). Hard disks are advantageous because they are normally

Saudi Students in the Us Education System Essay Example for Free

Saudi Students in the Us Education System Essay Western culture differs dramatically from Saudi Arabian culture, from religion, to education to music and food, even dress; they really are two different worlds. The challenges that a Saudi student might face here in the states are endless and adjusting takes time and a tremendous amount of effort. Let’s start by talking about education. In Saudi Arabia sexes are separated from day one. Males and females never attend school under the same roof, not even at university levels ( Flaits). For a Saudi student, here in the United States, this is a substantial change that has the potential to be, even traumatizing to students, especially to those students still in primary schools. Imagine with me for a moment that you are a thirteen year old Saudi Arabian girl. Your father has just gotten a job in the United States. Up till now you have spent your entire life in Saudi Arabia in a traditional home, going to a traditional all girl school. The only males you have ever spoken with are your close male relatives. Now, it is your first day to attend an American public school. You have a nice, dark complexion and wavy brown hair hidden away under your hijab. Never mind all the strange glances immediately thrown at you for your appearance the minute you step foot on the bus because of the way you are dressed, you expected as much. But you’re taken aback by the fact that well over half of these uncomfortable, judgmental glances are barreling down on you from the faces of boys. Your heart is beating hard and fast in your ears as you slide into the nearest vacant green leathery seat. You’re starting to feel your face grow warm and you just know you are seven shades of beat red. You concentrate on your breathing; you can feel every eye on the bus burning into you, you feel completely exposed. And just when you think that things couldn’t possibly get worse, a boy about two years older than you decides the empty seat next to you is as good as any to claim for his own. He gives you a warm smile, which you return with a blank stare. So he takes it upon himself to try and start a conversation. He is friendly enough, but you can’t concentrate on a single word coming out of his mouth. Not just because your English is below proficient, but because blood is pounding in your ears. What does this boy think he is doing? Your mind reels. The only thing you can think about is how angry your father would be if he saw this boy sitting next to you and you pray he never finds out. You have never spoken to a boy in your life, you wouldn’t know how to go about it, even if you wanted to, but your mouth doesn’t seem to be working now anyhow and all you want is for this boy to leave you alone before any tears manage to escape your eyes. You shut your eyes tight and count your breaths waaHid, ithnayn, talaata . . . You keep them closed for a long time and when you open them the boy has apparently gotten the point or been offended because he has changed seats. You feel only a slight twinge of guilt but a flood of relief. Finally the bus comes to a stop and everyone files off. Upon arriving to the school you find that the boys here are less friendly and somewhat frightening. Some whistle or stare, some wink, some make inappropriate gestures with their hands or mouths most of which you do not understand, some scoff and finally some ignore you completely which comes as a relief. The girls here don’t seem to be interested in any kind of interaction with you at all. Most avoid eye contact but some blatantly glare. Your head spins, all you want is a quiet, safe place to hide. So you retreat to the bathroom. Here you encounter a whole new set of awkward social problems, when a group of giggling girls, applying too much makeup, instantly become silent as you approach. You can feel the hostility as they take in your attire. Only one even attempts to smile at you. As if on cue, they all march out, fallowing a tall thin blond with a hot pink top, by the way the other girls dote, you can only assume she is their leader. You splash some cool water on your face, thankful for the silence and whisper a prayer to Allah, asking Him for the strength to just get through the day. The bell rings so you find your way to first period and take a seat nearest the door, most students have to walk past you, which isn’t ideal but you feel safer because you can bolt at any time if the need arises. The teacher inters the room and says good morning to the class. He looks across the room and his eyes come to rest on you, suddenly it is hard to breath you feel like you have been caught in some kind of sand storm that is suffocating only you, no one else in the room seems to feel ill at ease in the least. You have never had a male teacher before and it never crossed your mind that you ever would. This morning you prepared yourself the best you could with the idea of having to go to school with boys, you knew that you would stick out because of the clothing you wore and you knew it might be difficult communicating with the other children because your English is not that good, but it never occurred to you that you would have a male teacher! â€Å"good morning class, today we have a new student, miss Layla Almire,† never taking his eyes of you â€Å" would you mind standing and telling us a little about yourself ? † You slowly rise, â€Å"my name is Layla, I am thirteen, my family is from Saudi Arabia† you sit, unsure of what just happened. That girl standing, speaking, didn’t even sound like you. She sounded confident, not falling to pieces on the inside as you are doing now; your heart is beating so hard and your hands are trembling. â€Å"thank you miss Layla, we are glad to have you in class. Now take out your text books and turn to page eighty-three we left off talking about†¦Ã¢â‚¬  most of the day passes in a blur, you go from class, avoid eye contact or conversations with the children, eat lunch alone, some of your teachers are male, some are female, you act like you understand what the teachers say even though half the time you don’t. By the end of the day you are completely drained emotionally, mentally and physically and you are so relieved when it is finally over. But at home, you don’t want your parents to worry about you, especially your mother; the trip has been hard enough on her as it is. So you fake a smile and fight the urge to skip dinner and turn in early. After clearing the table you can fight it no longer, you tell your family that you have homework and retreat to your room. There you silently cry yourself to sleep hoping the morning does not come too quickly because you know what’s waiting for you when it does, your second day at an American public school. Saudi girls are painfully shy around men because their culture dictates that they have no interaction with men outside of close relatives. (Flaits) Coeducation can be difficult for male students as well because they are from a society where men are dominant, so being taught by women may be a very challenging thing to get used to (Flaits). To accommodate for these particular challenges, (first of all teaches need to be aware of the cultural differences), male teaches can help with these cultural challenges by not calling the female student out too much in class or talking to girls directly, by keeping a comfortable distance in a sense. And female teachers can try not to be too assertive, to avoid resentment from male students. Saudi’s in general, do not take criticism well, especially in public. It is viewed as an attack on their honor. It is for this reason that teachers need to be gentle when confronting a student about inappropriate behavior and never should this be done in front of the rest of the class. Saudi’s take it very personally if they are not trusted. This is a good reason not to accuse them unless you have strong evidence for your case. Trust and honor go hand in hand. I was not aware of this when I first began college and started hanging out with a group of internationals, I was not aware of many things. One night we were all at my friends and I was ready to go home but my friend was too tired to drive so his friend offered to give me a lift. I â€Å"politely† refused. Because I was raised never to get in a car with strangers, I thought this was common knowledge â€Å"don’t get into cars with people you don’t know†. This man took it very personally, he started to raise his voice, speaking in Arabic, and then left in a huff. I asked my friend what he said, it roughly translated to â€Å" fine if you don’t feel safe near me then I will just go† I felt slightly guilty but at the same time I thought it confirmed that this guy was a hot head that shouldn’t be trusted. Abdulah and I have laughed about our first meeting a lot since; he later became one of my best friends. This man wouldn’t hurt a fly, it’s just not in him, he is one of the kindest people I know. He has come to understand why I refused to get in the car that night and I, how disrespectful it was to refuse his help in front of all of our friends. Another challenge for Saudi students is the same for all immigrant students, language barriers. Students may need special accommodations to further acquire language skills. They may need additional time on assignments and additional clarification on direction for assignments. It is important for teachers to be patient with their students and not mistake the students lack of understanding for laziness. Some additional challenges, for teachers working with Saudi students, are keeping their attention, their interest. Saudis get bored very easily and quickly. Keeping their attention can prove to be quite difficult. Speaking with a fellow teacher I was given insight on how she kept her students engaged. She told me that Saudi students can be quite competitive so incorporating games with prizes or score boards is an effective and healthy way to inspire them to â€Å"stay on top of their game† she suggested things like writing on the black board, matching objects to words and spelling B’s where every point is tallied and any kind of learning game in general,to be effective methods. I have come up with a few of my own ideas to keep their interest and get them to study on their own as well. â€Å"THE LETTER GAME† have a bag full of random letters written on cards, at the beginning of class pull a set number of cards and place them in plain sight of the entire class, give the students a set amount of time to spell as many words as they can come up with from those cards, when the time is up tally the number of correct words the students got right, the one with the most words is awarded some kind of incentive. This accomplishes two things, challenges the student mentally and may lead to study outside of the class. Since the letters are completely random knowing their vocab will not be enough, because competition is such a part of their personality the intention is to get them to do independent studying, the more words they know, the better chance they have at winning the next go around. Racism is an infectious disease that plagues our public schools and even with all â€Å"bullies will not be tolerated† campaigns. Teachers need to keep a close eye out for students that might be being mistreated or harassed for the color of their skin, the god they believe in or the close they wear. In conclusion, there are many things that a teacher can and should do in order to make international students feel more at home in their class rooms. First and foremost, learn as much as you can about the students culture, this helps go a long way in helping the student. Secondly, when it comes to Saudi students, respect is key, don’t be too assertive if you are a female with male students, if you are a male with female students keep your distance, do not call out your Saudi students if they have, or are suspected of doing something wrong, speak with them in private. Thirdly offer accommodations for language barriers and engage them in some healthy competition to keep them motivated. And lastly, keep an eye out for racism or abuse from abuse from other members of the school.

Lasting Effects of Childhood Trauma

Lasting Effects of Childhood Trauma Dave Pelzer is the victim of the third-worst child abuse case in the history of California. In his book A Child Called â€Å"It†, he says, â€Å"I knew I was never meant to be loved. I knew I would never live a life like my brothers. Worst of all, I knew it was only a matter of time until Kevin [his baby brother] would hate me, just like the others did† (Pelzer 145; ch.7). In this quote, Pelzer demonstrates just the emotional aspect of the effects of childhood trauma. He was so abused by his mother that he thought he was never meant to be loved. According to ER Nurse Lynda Gibbons, â€Å"Domestic violence [child abuse/trauma] refers to the use or threat of physical, sexual or emotional force by spouses, partners, relatives, or anyone else with a close relationship with their victims.† Childhood trauma can have many lasting emotional, psychological, and physical effects. As a method of abuse, Pelzer’s mother would tell him that she had received a letter from the North Pole, or the Principle (which was a lie; Pelzer was a good student) saying Pelzer had been a â€Å"bad boy,† and would then proceed to punish him for it. The continued abuse left Pelzer feeling worthless and like everything was his fault. This form of abuse is called emotional abuse, and its effects are precursors of more serious effects. Emotional abuse can affect many areas of your life, with the most frequently affected being relations with family members. Women who were abused as children will most likely have an extremely difficult time raising a child. To feel like they are still in control (because control is frequently essential in the daily lives of previously abused women), they will enact measures of aggression, submission, or any number of different â€Å"extremes† that are unique to the individual (Prescott). These measures are necessary to them because of the traumatic experiences of their youth. As a result, the child will feel like his or her mother has lost her mind and will distance himself or herself from her. This distance can have the same emotional detriment as neglect, a form of emotional abuse, and can leave lasting effects on the child’s mind. Adults who experienced CPA (Childhood Physical Abuse) and CSA (Childhood Sexual Abuse) may be over- or under-protective of their child, resulting in an unhealthy relationship or one the child perceives as â€Å"unloving† (Prescott). Adults who were abused as children may have a hard time connecting with their friends and family. The victim’s friends fade away in many cases, as they are too afraid of other people to spend time with them. The victim may also have an extremely difficult time forming new relationships, since that would require reaching out to strangers, which is hard for someone with that kind of emotional damage to do. Most victims of emotional abuse do not know how to handle themselves around people they are not familiar with and lack the understanding of people required to form lasting emotional bonds. Victims of abuse may also suffer from a lack or absence of self-esteem. Dave Pelzer experienced many forms of abuse, but there was one instance that damaged his self-esteem more than others. In an effort to destroy his self-respect, Pelzer’s mother attempted to make him eat his baby brother’s defecation (Pelzer 55-57). This disgusting example of abuse threw Pelzer into a well of despair and self-destructive thoughts. Damaging a child’s self-esteem is a nearly sure-fire way to damage them emotionally, because the way we view ourselves is essential to how we react to different things that occur. For example, if a child who had been previously abused and punched by an adult, he or she may believe it is his or her fault because the abuse lowered hi or her self-esteem to such a point that he or she has no sense of self-worth. Low self-esteem and continued abuse can lead to self-destructive behavior later in life. To back this up, a study was done in 1994 on previously abused women; 65-70% of women who suffered abuse as children were considered â€Å"permanently damaged† by professional psychiatrist. In an effort to recover, the women had to sit in with a psychiatrist and be told, repeatedly, that it was not their faults they were abused; it was the abusers’ (Prescott). Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) can be even more detrimental to a person’s self-esteem. In a recent article on dealing with the effects of CSA, Andrya Prescott says that â€Å"some [people] may find it very emotionally traumatic, some may be in denial.† Denial is a coping mechanism that prevents someone from consciously experiencing the pain or trauma from an event by making the person believe it did not actually happen (even though they subconsciously know it did). Another factor in the amount of perceived damage to a person’s emotional state is how early in life the trauma occurs. If the trauma occurs earlier in life, it has a far more powerful ef fect on the victim. This extends to even prenatal trauma, experienced by the mother and then the fetus has the same biochemical, and therefore emotional, response. This feeling of distress is â€Å"imprinted† on the child’s subconscious, and can go on to cause anxiety and low self-esteem (Harris). This â€Å"imprinted† trauma acts like a trigger, and, when detonated by CPA or CSA, can result in severe psychiatric disorders (Jovanovic et al.). Victims of CPA and CSA are nearly always affected by their former abuse later on in life. They often develop phobias, which are defined as fears with no rationale behind them, or â€Å"irrational fears.† Just for example, women who were abused as children often have a large phobia of needles and men (Prescott). These fears can go on to disrupt their everyday lives as adults, and their interactions with other people. Parents who experienced child abuse will often distance themselves from their children, because they fear their child â€Å"being abused† and often even fear themselves abusing their child (Prescott). While some may see this as foolish, it is sensible. The adult was abused, so they fear they will turn into their parents and start abusing their kids. This is referred to as the â€Å"cycle of abuse.† Another common fear that some survivors of abuse experience is the fear of being strapped down or held (Prescott). Some of these fears make more sense than others, but they all can have a serious effect on a person’s life. People who were abused often have â€Å"latent fears,† or fears that stick around subconsciously. A major sign of latent fears is flashbacks. People who experience CPA or CSA may have extreme reactions and flashbacks triggered by everyday items or occurrences: i.e. kitchen utensils or alarm clocks going off (Prescott). Flashbacks occur when someone is reminded of a traumatic experience, and he or she remembers that experience in vivid detail, in a way that is comparable to living it a second time. These flashbacks can be very hard on someone who is already suffering emotionally, and can even compound the trauma that is already there and undo any therapy the victim has received since the incident. Latent fears are especially prevalent in women when they are raising a child. Giving birth can be extremely traumatic for a woman who has experienced CSA and can do lasting harm to the relationship between herself and her child. The mother does not show love to the child, for fear of growing close to anyone, and the child does not show love to her child, etc. This is part of the cycle of abuse, but is more based on neglect than actual abuse (Prescott). Psychological effects are a step up from emotional effects. The emotional injuries that accumulate from abuse often hide deep inside a person’s subconscious, causing them to develop nearly-permanent psychological issues. Studies have shown that women are â€Å"more vulnerable† to the effects of CPA and are affected for far longer periods of time than men (Haatainen et al.).Usually the first thing that is affected psychologically is a person’s stress response. When one experiences something that his or her body recognizes as â€Å"stressful,† it initiates the HPA (Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis. This axis controls the amount of hormones that are circulating through his or her body at any given time. When one experiences stress, it releases cortisol, also called the â€Å"stress hormone.† Cortisol, along with epinephrine and a few other hormones, activates one’s â€Å"fight-or-flight† response. The heart will beat faster, blood flo w to the brain increases, and the muscles receive more oxygen, all to prepare one to react to whatever the stressful stimulus is. When a child experiences trauma or stress repeatedly over a long period of time, his/her body loses the ability to â€Å"calm down†; essentially, he or she is always in a fight-or-flight response. This can lead to the development of phobias and an increased or decreased base cortisol level (Simkin). Penny Simkin, discussing this inability to â€Å"calm down,† says: During trauma, an individual reacts with one or two basic survival responses: a sympathetic nervous system response –‘fight or flight’—or a parasympathetic nervous system response—‘freezing’ [. . . .] If the trauma is repeated frequently, the child learns to never let her guard down, which leads to an inability to turn off these adaptive responses when there is no danger. A recent test done on people who experienced early life stress (ELS) showed that ELS has extreme neurobiological effects. These effects include an overbalance of cortisol, which can lead to a number of illnesses and conditions (Jovanovic et al.). According to Tanja Jovanovic, ELS can have a long lasting effect on the human mind. She says, â€Å"early-life stress (ELS) is a predictor of adult MDD [Major depressive disorder], whereas ELS and adult trauma are both predictors of PTSD [Post-traumatic stress disorder]† (Jovanovic et al.). This suggests that ELS acts like a fuse, and the adult trauma is the trigger that sets the fuse off, ending in a psychiatric disorder such as PTSD (Jovanovic et al.). A childhood of physical and sexual abuse can also lead people to seek other means of release, such as drugs or alcohol. Dr. Rebecca Reeve, in an article on the long-term effects of child abuse, says, â€Å"Among men, the probability of drug abuse rose from 7.5 per cent generally to 2 5.8 per cent for those who had suffered combined [CPA and CSA] abuse.† This is saying that people who experienced child abuse develop a dependency on alcohol often because they need to be relieved of the emotional stress of their trauma (Reeve). Another major psychological effect from child abuse is developmental problems. In fact, children who are abused frequently lose memories of their childhood, as a coping mechanism in their subconscious. In this way, they lost an essential portion of their development, causing them to be behind others in speech, intellect, or social ability (Simkin). Children need a constant positive parental influence to develop correctly. Without a guiding hand, children are much more likely to develop extreme behavioral problems, when accompanied by instability in the household (Bakker et al.). Early trauma can also have a direct influence on the development of a child’s brain. Trauma during childhood could result in halted growth of the hippocampus, the part of the brain that is used to learn and store memories. It could also damage the prefrontal cortex, which â€Å"regulates† behavior (Suyaga et al.). Stress plays a large role in this halted development as well. If a child is subjec ted to long periods of heightened stress, it increases the amount of CBGs (corticosteroid-binding globulin) that are produced. This change can often be permanent. As more CBGs are produced than there are at normal levels, it binds to cortisol, neutralizing it. Since there is less free cortisol in the blood, there is more perceived stress. This overbalance causes extended periods of stress in which more cortisol and CBGs are produced in a vicious cycle, leading to the development of PTSD, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and other psychiatric disorders (â€Å"Childhood Trauma†). In a test conducted by ISTSS (International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies), it was found that people who were victims of CPA had a much higher percentage of at least one psychiatric disorder and a higher suicide attempt rate than people who did not experience CPA (Suyaga et al.). Childhood trauma also has a lasting effect on one’s internal body systems. According to a recent study on the effects of early life stress, ELS that stems from child abuse (CPA or CSA) can result in neurohormonal development issues, which can cause permanent hormonal dysfunction disorders[ i.e. dwarfism] (Carpenter et al.). Adults who were abused as children may also be damaged in such a way that they abuse their children. They were accustomed to beatings and being maltreated, and it became commonplace and in some wrong way, right. When they are parents (if they are ever able to overcome the trauma and have children), they treat their children in the same way, because of some subconscious compulsion. The history of CPA in adults is greatly related to the number of physically abuse children. In other words, adults who were abused are much more likely to abuse their children (Haatainen et al.). Childhood abuse and trauma can have many serious effects, but the most serious of those are most likely the physical effects. In a way, physical effects are all the other effects compounded. Emotional effects are formed primarily, based on responses to stimuli in the womb or in early formative years. These effects are the longest lasting, and contribute to the production of negative thoughts, which mutate into psychological effects. These psychological effects are buried in the subconscious, which conflicts with the victim’s rational thinking later in life. This conflict produces physical effects, such as a lowered immune system, and the development of long-term conditions, such as asthma and cancer. One of the biggest effectors is cortisol. Cortisol is produced as a result of the stressful stimuli. In large amounts, cortisol can damage the body by decreasing bone formation, breaking down necessary fat, and dissolving muscle. This can lead to a lack of immune support, weight l oss, and other symptoms associated with stress. This is called a â€Å"psychosomatic response†Ã¢â‚¬â€when the thoughts or emotions of the brain evolve to physically effect the body. Another psychosomatic response is insomnia. Boston University Medical Center, on the subject of insomnia, states, â€Å"unexplainable lifelong insomnia is usually attributed to a neurological abnormality, according to sleep disorders specialist Sanford Auerbach, M.D., but he found that in nine of his patients insomnia was tied to previous sexual abuse† (qtd. in â€Å"Adult†). The victims in another study done by Boston University said that they could not sleep because when they tried to, they experienced fear and stress. This also prevented them from relaxing on vacation, when their symptoms actually worsened (â€Å"Adult†). They could not sleep simply from fear of abuse. In a study that occurred in 1982, psychologists did psych profiles on women who came to the hospital for a breast biopsy. Using only psychological factors, they were able to determine which women had breast cancer with a 94% success rate (Harris). A big part of physical effects is actual injury from the abuse. Victims of CPA may be left with poorly-working joints or muscles, as well are permanent tissue damage to areas such as the brain (Gibbons). David Kissen, a prominent British surgeon in the 1960’s, did some research in Scotland on the relationship between emotional repression and cancer caused by smoking cigarettes. He found that smokers who repressed emotions were five times more likely to develop cancer than those who shared their emotions openly (Harris). This study shows that if someone â€Å"bottles up† his or her emotions, it damages the body. This occurs from the buildup of cortisol, which lowers the immune system and can even upset cellular biology in some cases, leading to cancer (Harris). As a general observation, it seems that cortisol, the â€Å"stress hormone,† is at the center of all of these effects. Perhaps it plays a more prominent role than most doctors realize? In any case, stress levels are the key to how child abuse affects people later in life, resulting in a near-inability to love, lowered immunity, psychiatric disorders, and, in some major cases, cancer. Child abuse certainly has a much larger effect on its victims than we were previously aware of. Works Cited â€Å"Adult Insomnia and Childhood Sexual Abuse.† Total Health 15.5(1993): n.pag. Alt  Healthwatch. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. Bakker, Martin P., et al. â€Å"Childhood Family Instability and Mental Health Problems During Late  Adolescence: A Test of Two Mediation Models.† Journal of Clinical Child and  Adolecent Psychology 41.2(2012): 166-176. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences  Collection. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. Carpenter, Linda L., et al. â€Å"Effects of Child Physical Abuse on Cortisol Stress Response.† Psychopharmacology 214.1(2011):367-375. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences  Collection. Web. 8 Feb. 2014. â€Å"Childhood Trauma Linked to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.† Massage Magazine 54  (2009):23. Alt Healthwatch. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. Gibbons, Lynda. â€Å"Dealing with the Effects of Domestic Violence.† Emergency Nurse 19.4  (2011): 12-17. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. Haatainen, K.M., et al. â€Å"Gender Differences in the Association of Adult Hopelessness with  Adverse Childhood Experiences.† Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology  38.1(2003): 12. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. Harris, Gerald A. â€Å"Early Childhood Emotional Trauma: An Important Factor in the Aetiology of  Cancer and other Diseases.† European Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 7.2(2006): 2-10.  Alt Healthwatch. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. Jovanovic, Tanja, et al. â€Å"Child Abuse is Associated with Increased Startle Reactivity in  Adulthood.† Depression and Anxiety 26.11(2009): 1018-1026. Psychology and  Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. Pelzer, Dave. A Child Called â€Å"It†. Omaha: Omaha, 1995. Print. Prescott, Andrya. â€Å"Childhood Sexual Abuse and the Potential Impact on Maternity.†Ã‚  Midwifery Matters 92(2002): 17-20. Alt Healthwatch. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. Reeve, Rebecca. â€Å"The Truth is That the Effects of Child Abuse are Long-Lasting.† Editorial.  The Sydney Morning Herald 07 Oct. 2013: 18. EBSCO. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. Simkin, Penny. â€Å"Child Abuse as Loss.† International Journal of Childbirth Education 20.3  (2005): 38-40. Alt Healthwatch. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. Suyaga, Louisa, et al. â€Å"Child Physical Abuse and Adult Mental Health: A National Study.†Ã‚  Journal of Traumatic Stress 25.4 (2012): 384-392. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences  Collection. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.

Historys Eras Essay -- American History USA Essays

History's Eras Throughout the many changes in history and fluctuations in economy during times of war and times of rebuilding, there are several key people and events that have greatly affected America's path forever within the multiple Eras. Each abrupt turn in history is the result of someone's decision or some event that placed the power in someone else's hands. These sometimes critical and morally questioned times make up the guide not only to our history, but our future as well. They teach us which way not to go again, and what is, and what use to be extremely important in preserving the American culture that was founded not so long ago. By viewing these movements, wars and moral evolutions, we can see how far America has come so far and where it should go. Reconstruction took several different turns within the twelve year period of 1865-1877. Although President Lincoln revealed the rough road that lay ahead by presenting his Ten Percent Plan and the 13th Amendment, he would have little to do with what was to come due to his untimely assassination by John Wilkes Booth. Booth changed the course of history at that moment by handing the presidency to Vice President Andrew Johnson. Johnson rolled back several gains that Lincoln had in store. He had little to no sympathy for the enslaved blacks and blamed wealthy property owners and high ranking Confederate Officials for the South's poverty. With the now Union functioning governments of the former Confederate states, Republicans were "Sympathetic" to Johnson's decision to put the power of the freed men's civil and political rights into the hands of the individual states. This brought on the laws or "Black Codes" which gave them no choice but to live the slave life ... ...hip and programs, but overall the public saw him as a hero. He changed the connection between government and Americans forever. After reviewing the countless trials and successes America has gone through, it is clear that she has been mis-guided and set back on track several times. With our system of democracy that has been molded and shaped over several periods, it is clear that America is a powerful nation that is continuing to grow. Each president, advisor and citizen has shown their love for this country and its people in so many ways, and by this they have changed the path of history forever. One individual can change history forever, Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, Rosa Parks and even Margaret Sanger are all people that dramatically influenced the way America is today and the way it might have been had they not had dreams and morals that fueled them.

Advertising on a Global Scale Essay

When a company, brand, or product is marketed within several countries, a significantly different approach to advertising must be made opposed to if it was only being sold within one country. A company’s awareness of the international advertising can greatly affect how well a product is accepted by its target audience and how well it sells. The most important aspect of global advertising is an understanding of culture. This involves considering the language barriers, the cultural significance of images and signs, and the applicability that a certain product may have within different countries. Addressing these three factors, overall, can help to increase the appeal of a product or service; and it is essential that companies realize that implementing a standardized method of advertising is not always the most effective way to enter a foreign market. There have been several debates in regards to the regulation of global advertising. Two contrasting statements have been made—one that suggests that advertising standardization is the most profitable approach to international marketing, and another that promotes localization. Those who support the standardization method â€Å"†¦argue that standardizing advertising can help maintain a uniform global strategy and image of the firm, maximize the firm’s cost advantage and meet a universal need of people across the world† (Zou and Volz 2010: 57). The adaption method, however, stresses that differences and barriers between cultures, spoken languages, historical contexts, and socio-economic factors between various countries affects the way in which advertising messages are perceived and translated. It is therefore does not make sense to implement only one form of advertisement that is meant to span a variety of countries and cultures, because one single campaign cannot apply and appeal to every market worldwide. Perhaps the arguments in favor of standardizing international campaigns, particularly the language that is being used, stems from the fact that English has become the dominant language in the world. The majority of advertisers and other people who work in the global marketing industry speak English, regardless of what is their country of origin; and it appears as if many advertisers are beginning to apply this theory to the consumers. Despite the widespread use of English and the fact that is the most commonly used language in advertising worldwide, the concept of advertising standardization has been widely criticized in favor of adaptation. It is somewhat hasty to assume, after all, that all people worldwide are fluent in English, simply because most of those working in the business sector happen to speak the language. What about those in smaller towns or non-Western countries such as Cairo, Egypt? Egyptians who work in the tourist or hospitality industry are likely to speak English, but many of the average citizens—who are all potential consumers—will not necessarily speak English or be able to understand the writing. Studies have also shown that the use of a local language tends to appeal more to those who live in the area, especially within countries that perceive their spoken and written language to be a valuable part of their culture. Hornikx, Van Meurs, and De Boer write that â€Å"†¦ads that appeal to important cultural values (such as independence in the United States or loyalty in Mexico) should be more persuasive than ads that appeal to relatively unimportant cultural values (such as loyalty in the United States or independence in Mexico)† (2010: 171). Empirical studies have also proven that ads using the local language and cultural values of a country tend to be favored as opposed to those with a standardized language and advertising message (Hornikx, Van Meurs, and De Boer 2010: 171). Although it is clear that language adaption is important, the preference that locals have for their language does not imply that advertisers should not use English in foreign countries. They simply need to use English in a way that is effective in conveying the message behind a campaign, and have an understanding of how the English language is perceived in each particular market they are trying to enter. Among Chinese consumers who frequently purchase upscale or luxury goods, global advertising, brands, and products tend to be preferred over domestic good. This is because in Chinese culture, in particular, â€Å"†¦global advertising elements are valued as signs or surrogates for status, cosmopolitanism, excitement, modernity, quality, technology, and beauty† (Zou and Belk 2004: 71). If advertisers are going to use English, however, it is crucial that they simplify the language as much as possible in order to minimize the risk of misinterpretation. There is no point in using a standardized advertising campaign in China if nobody is going to understand what it says. In the Netherlands, the use of English slogans in advertising was also preferred to Dutch, so long as the slogans were easy to read and translate (Louhiala-Salminen and Rogerson-Revell 2010: 95). This shows how the use of English, in many countries, could actually be beneficial and profitable for a company; but since not all countries perceive English the same way, it is important for advertisers to understand how and English campaign will be accepted within their target market. English will not necessarily be preferred to the local language, nor will global brands necessarily be favored over domestic products— which proves that language adaptation should still be used in some situations as opposed to absolute language standardization. Along with deciding whether or not the local language should be used in an international advertising campaign, companies need to consider the visuals that they are using. What is the significance of the images within that culture? Could they possibly be negatively misinterpreted? What do the local consumers consider to be visually appealing? All of these factors, of course, differ between countries and cultures. Studies have shown that there is a significant difference between the way in which high-context cultures and low-context cultures interpret ads. These high-context cultures include China, Japan, the Mediterranean, and Arab nations, where a lot of information is left unspoken and messages are often coded. Low-context cultures, however, refer to the United States, Germany, the UK, and other Western European countries. In these countries, everything is relatively straight-forward and messages are made clear (An 2007: 307). An describes the findings from many studies, which all â€Å"†¦imply that the idea of employing advertising visuals that reflect the communication styles of a particular national market appears to be a promising strategy to effectively reach consumers around the world† (2007: 303). This suggests that multinational advertisers should seek to differentiate their visuals between Eastern and Western cultures if they wish to make a product or service appeal to the people. In the United States, for example, celebrities—from singers, to socialites, to athletes—dominate magazine pages, commercials, and billboards as the spokes models for various brands. This tends to attract the attention of the American public, as they recognize the celebrities and typically create a positive association between that celebrity and the product. In the Middle East, however, using a celebrity athlete to represent a box of cereal will not make that cereal appear any more appealing than if the box were blank. Advertisers, instead, must determine what will be visually pleasing to consumers in countries that have different values than those from more Western countries. In addition to finding what a will attract people in terms of advertising visuals, it is essential to be and respectful of cultural beliefs and customs. Consider countries in the Middle East, where Islam is a dominant part of society. This religion stresses modesty, especially amongst women. Kalliny et al describe how in countries such as Saudi Arabia, â€Å"†¦women are not allowed to walk in the streets with their faces uncovered†¦ [and there are] women wearing long clothing in 83 percent of Arabic magazine advertisements showing women, compared to the 29 percent in U. S. advertisements† (2008: 218). With female modesty being so important within certain cultures, it is extremely important that multinational advertisers be cautious about whether their visuals will be appropriate. It would not be a good choice, for example, for an advertiser to market a brand of women’s perfume in Saudi Arabia with an enormous billboard showing Britney Spears wearing a bikini and holding a bottle of perfume. This would be considered offensive and would not be beneficial for the popularity of a product. The Japanese cosmetics industry also presents an interesting example of the importance of visual marketing and how advertisers need to pay attention to what will efficiently sell a product. As the second largest market in the world in terms of cosmetics, it was estimated to be worth roughly 1. trillion yen back in 2003 (Barnes and Yamamoto 2008: 299). Research regarding what type of models Japanese women prefer in beauty campaigns indicated a surprising fact. Although white models are widely used in Japan, because they are considered to be the ideal form of beauty, Japanese women actually preferred to buy cosmetics that used Japanese models in the advertisements. Barnes and Yamamoto discuss how this is due to white models not being applicable to Japanese women in terms of physical beauty. The Japanese, for example, value fair complexions, while Westerners typically prefer tans. Additionally, â€Å"†¦since the Japanese facial structure is different from that of Westerners, they will not become similar in appearance if they use the same make-up as a Western model† (2008: 310). This proves how a choice of visual representation in an advertising campaign can greatly affect how a product is accepted within different countries, and how advertisers must adjust their images or models accordingly. As research within the Japanese beauty industry has shown, applicability is crucial in global advertising. If a product or service has no value, necessity, or appeal in a certain country, hen consumers will not purchase the product. An advertisement’s message and content, therefore, is important and can determine how much interest is generated amongst consumers. In one particular study involving 40 different advertising campaigns and 1200 consumers, the significance of content was examined. Van Den Putte states that the study indicates that â€Å"†¦after controlling for the effect of previous purchase behavior, the effect of message content strategy is generally larger than the effect of advertising expenditure† (2009: 669). This shows how it is not necessarily a campaign’s budget that determines the success of a product, but the message and content that it contains. Alcohol advertisements have been successful in tailoring their ads to suit the requirements of different countries and cultures. One example is the comparison of alcohol advertisements between the United Kingdom and Ukraine. Beefeater Dry Gin, a spirit brand that often appears in GQ magazine, markets their gin in Britain quite minimally. Their ad consists of a lime splashing into a bottle of gin, with the splash pattern forming the British flag. The slogan simply reads â€Å"Refreshingly London†, with one more line that says â€Å"Distilled in London since 1820† (Wolburg and Venger 2009: 15). That is all that is needed in order for British consumers to understand the product and find some sort of value in the liquor. In Ukraine, however, alcohol companies have to take a much different approach. Wolburg and Venger state that, because drinking has not been instilled as a cultural norm in Ukrainian society, â€Å"†¦marketers have had to educate Ukrainians about drinking various alcoholic beverages. Ads, magazine articles, and Web sites must not only teach Ukrainians how these drinks are prepared and consumed; they must also explain what makes certain brands authentic† (2009: 15). This involves the importance of cultural applicability—if alcohol advertisers do not understand the need to educate certain consumer markets about their product in detail, then consumers will not see a need for the product altogether. McDonalds has been one of the most successful companies in terms of launching their fast-food chains globally and adjusting their products and advertising campaigns to appeal to local consumers. In India, for example, many of the people do not eat beef; so to increase its appeal, McDonalds in India sells a lamb burger as part of its menu, and markets its fish fillet sandwich much more than it does in the United States. It also utilizes many small, local farmers and food suppliers in order to make the company seem more localized and appealing to the Indian consumer base (Sarin and Barrows 2005: 23). The original, American version of McDonalds would most likely have been unsuccessful in countries such as India if the company had not made some adjustments. If McDonalds in Indian maintained the same American menu, then the Indian public would undoubtedly not have been as accepting of the brand and its products. Not only was the company culturally sensitive to the dietary restrictions that many Indian people have due to religious meanings, but it also used local suppliers as an acculturation strategy. With a menu that conforms to the eating habits of India, along with the use of their own famers and suppliers, McDonalds has become well-adjusted to the global community and has effectively made itself applicable to a wide variety of cultures and consumers. Culture is the most important factor in any advertising campaign, regardless of its origin. Advertisers cannot simply use one campaign and expect it to be accepted, appealing, and applicable to every country. Standardization also forfeits the competitive edge that one brand may have over another if it is able to successfully integrate its product into a foreign market. Paying attention to the language, visuals, and significance of a product is essential in global advertising, and advertisers must alter their campaign in order to better suit the tastes and values of individual cultures.

Political and ideological discourse Essay

America is founded upon some deeply disturbing prejudices, which are dangerously implanted in our youth at a young age. The impact is a sick culture, capable of terrible acts of impulse that are inspired by fear and contempt. This is at the core of The Crucible. In many ways, The Crucible, which recounts the awful details of the Salem Witch Trials, still resonates today. The term Witch Hunt is often invoked in modern social, political and ideological discourse to characterize any malicious or unfounded crusade against an innocent party or parties. The narrative of the 1954 Arthur Miller play helps to keep fresh the understanding of that which we are capable of at our worst, our most misguided and our most ignorant. In addition, it cautions against the type of repression which marked the Salem society, elucidating that such unnaturally draconian standards will inevitably cause revolt. Perhaps among the most shocking elements of the play is that which is revealed to the play’s reader in the introduction regarding the extraordinary young age of the girls. Acknowledging them as being barely out of their puberty, this introduction helps to pave the way for the cruel behavior perpetrated by such young aggressors, producing a useful discussion on the cultural impact bore upon our young by a culture that behaves with such virulent fanaticism. This also helps us in our consideration of the realities surrounding the witch trials, with Miller’s telling pairing with some historical notes of interest. These do help us to appreciate the danger tread by Americans in this context and in those modern parallels thereto. To this extent, the shocking detail noted in the introduction relates to the fact that in the years after the witch trials, when the state of Massachusetts had come to fully acknowledge and provide reparations for what had occurred, it did so with precious little remorse. Though it provided a small financial sum to the compensation of the Proctors—with John Proctor already deceased by execution—â€Å"perversely, damages were paid not only to the victims but also to such people as William Good, who was his wife’s accuser, and Abigail Hobbs, a ‘confessed witch’ who became a hostile witness. ’† (viii) In addition to this grotesque distortion of a reconciliation, the statement provided by the Governor accompanying this statement of apology would argue nonetheless that the accusers could be forgiven for their atrocities due to the fact that the time and place in question was â€Å"infested with a horrible Witchcraft. † (vii) This would seem a most unyielding apology. These observations lead to a number of questions concerning the play as a whole. Particularly, the fact of this unrepentence causes us to wonder whether Miller’s political enemies recognized the parallels suggested between McCarthyism and the Witch Trials. A second question wonders whether this play might have been made had not the era of McCarthyism begun to impact artists, authors and entertainers, even in spite of the fact that it was based on events more than 200 years passed. A final question as we enter further discussion on this subject questions whether or not—without a loaded intention—Miller’s analogy between the Witch Trials and the anti-communist loyalty trials of the 1950s. The story is presented with some dramatic elements which do not blunt but tend instead to make more relatable the impact of certain characters. The most prominent of distinctions from history is the set of dramatic liberties taken with regard to personal relationships, such as the affair between Proctor and Abigail, which would be a device intended to move forward themes of personal vindictiveness. Additional distinctions are the characterizations which in many contexts, Miller acknowledges, were intended as ‘composite’ sketches of groups of individuals identified by historical record. His characters were fictionalized for the purpose of economy. An additional detail of importance is that many of the character ages were altered in order to create dramatic tensions and possibilities central to the narrative action but distinct from historical accuracy. Ultimately, none of these distinction detract from the imposition of Miller’s message, which is that the danger present in this age would emerge once again in the era of McCarthyism, and perhaps we might argue, again today in the age of terrorism. Namely, we can see that fear of an unseen villain has bred a blind and irrational wave of paranoia and its attendant behaviors, establishing a society deeply vulnerable to exploitation and mob mentality. 2. Ultimately, it is impossible for this reason of mob mentality to place the blame for the horrific series of events upon any one individual. Though some appear as more insidious than others, and where others still will tend to even demonstrate remorse in eventuality, all individuals in the society may be said to play a hand in the disgrace for which Miller’s play accounts. Indeed, as much as the aggressive pursuit shown by some, it would be the spineless docility of others which would allow so many to lose there lives. Indeed, we may be immediately struck by how fast speculation is turned around in the sequence described by Act I. Here, the manipulative young girls escape culpability for deviant behavior by exploiting the primitive instincts of the townsfolk. Miller’s work seems largely fixated upon the easy and willing susceptibility of the Salem townsfolk to such a ploy. The story utilized fast sequence of narrative action in order to demonstrate the stunning quickness with which the Church moves to respond to allegations, eschewing sensible law enforcement or due process to instead begin a series of completely unfounded arrests. Indeed, the arrival of Hale, the specialist on witchcraft, brings with it a gloomy sense of foreboding that seems to target this man with the onus of blame for that which is to occur. With the sentence of death being the outcome to such proceedings as those brought forth, the reader is moved by the remarkably errant posing of Church authority. The courtroom drama which is used in the Third Act of the play is compelling if a little overstated. Here, the genuine hysteria has set in and the outrageous turnabout between first Mary and John toward Abigail and ultimately, Mary and Abigail toward John demonstrates the greatest problem of the play. It is clear that everybody is on trial, which we may denote is likewise how Miller views it. To his perspective, the town is indeed on trial for its behavior. The carnage and extremity of the outcome is perhaps less surprising therefore than something such as the reversal of Hale in the finally act. Initially, the reader views him as a sinister figure but it is clear by this juncture that the forces governing Salem had leapt far beyond his intent or control. The finality of the play here is unforgiving, as the accused are hanged with no redemption. The theme of intolerance as a crime of which the whole town is guilty is presented largely in the descriptions by Miller, who portrayed the Puritans as living in what â€Å"was a barbaric frontier inhabited by a sect of fanatics who, nevertheless, were shipping out products of slowly increasing quantity and value. † (4) Miller would describe them as a people who ‘forbade anything resembling a theater or ‘vain enjoyment. ’ We might therefore argue that the theme of intolerance is best exemplified by the impact which it has on the cruel and hateful children, made so by the puritan society. A contrary indication, given by the kindly Rebecca, notes that â€Å"a child’s spirit is like a child, you can never catch it by running after; you must stand still, and, for love, it will soon itself come back. † (24) Here, we are given an intuition otherwise absent from Salem, and much to the destruction of its people as it drives the neglected children to become ripe with meanness. Indeed, all are guilty, right down to the children who laughed while others died. Works Cited: Miller, A. (1964) The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts. Penguin Books.

Cosmos Episode 6 Viewing Worksheet - Teacher Resources

Cosmos Episode 6 Viewing Worksheet - Teacher Resources   The most effective educators know they must vary their teaching style in order to accommodate all types of learners. One fun way to do this that students always seem to like is to show videos or have a movie day. A great science based Fox television series, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, will keep the students not only entertained but also learning as they follow along on the adventures of affable host Neil deGrasse Tyson. He makes the complicated science topics accessible for all learners. Below are questions that can be copy and pasted into a worksheet for use during or after the showing  of episode 6 of Cosmos, entitled Deeper Deeper Deeper Still,  to assess students learning. It can also be used by the students as a sort of guided note taking worksheet during the video to jot down the main ideas. You are free to copy and use this worksheet as you feel necessary to best fit your class. Cosmos Episode 6 Worksheet  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Name:___________________    Directions: Answer the questions as you watch episode 6 of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey    1.   About how many atoms does Neil deGrasse Tyson say that he’s made up of?    2. How many hydrogen and oxygen atoms are in one molecule of water?    3.   Why do the water molecules move faster when the sun hit them?    4.   What has to happen to the water molecules before they can evaporate?    5. How long have tardigrades been living on Earth?    6. What are the â€Å"holes† in the moss called that take in carbon dioxide and â€Å"exhale† oxygen?    7. What does a plant need in order to break water into hydrogen and oxygen?    8. Why is photosynthesis the â€Å"ultimate green energy†?    9. How long can a tardigrade go without water?    10. When did the first flowering plants evolve?    11. What did Charles Darwin conclude about the orchid based on his idea of Natural Selection?    12. How much of Madagascar’s rain forests have been destroyed?    13. What is the name of the nerve that is stimulated when we smell something?    14. Why do certain scents trigger memories?    15. How does the number of atoms in every breath we take compare to all the stars in all the known galaxies?    16. What idea about nature was first expressed by Thales?    17.   What was the name of the ancient Greek philosopher who came up with the idea of atoms?    18. What is the only element that is flexible enough to create different structures necessary to sustain life?    19. How did Neil deGrasse Tyson explain that the boy did not really touch the girl?    20. How many protons and electrons does an atom of gold have?    21.   Why is the Sun so hot?    22. What is the â€Å"ash† in the Sun’s nuclear furnace?    23. How are heavier elements, like iron, made?    24. How much distilled water is in the neutrino trap?    25. Why did neutrinos reach the Earth 3 hours before anyone knew of the Supernova 1987A?    26. What law of Physics made it possible for Neil deGrasse Tyson not to flinch when the red ball came swinging back at his face?    27. How did Wolfgang Pauli explain the â€Å"breaking† of the law of conservation of energy in radioactive isotopes?    28.   Why can we not go further back than 15 minutes into January 1 on the â€Å"cosmic calendar†?    29. About what size was the universe when it was a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second old?

Assessment Two_Proposed Structure Essays - Articles, Free Essays

Assessment Two_Proposed Structure Essays - Articles, Free Essays Assessment Two - Structure and further Support Below is the proposed structure for the report. You may include additional sections and/or sub-sections if relevant Introduction (Break down the assessment task and give us an understanding that you understand what you are expected to address in this assessment. DO NOT start with definitions . You can probably start with something like "The purpose of this assessment task is to .(read your assessment brief and take help to write the initial few lines and then give us an idea about your main argument that you plan to develop and how you have structured your discussion - give idea of the main sections that will follow the introduction ) Leadership and Management (or work groups and teams ) Power and Politics (or conflict and negotiation ) Organizational Culture (also give an idea about what theory /theories would best explain or support the cultural context of the organization that you have chosen and best fits your main argument and why - DO NOT describe all organizational culture theories one after another) Brief overview of your chosen organization (this section may also fit just after your introduction) How leadership and management (or work groups and teams ) and power and politics (or conflict and negotiation) impact on organizational culture of the chosen organization - make application of theories ( you have had prior discussion of the theories in section 2, 3 and 4 ) in this section to make the link between your chosen paired topic and organizational culture. Remember, i n this section your aim will be to synthesize information from section 2, 3 and 4 to develop arguments and logical conclusions that help establish the links clearly among the chosen topics and the chosen organization culture. You should bring in examples f rom your chosen organization as evidence to support your arguments . Conclusion ( s tep back and think through what comes out of the overall discussion? What are the key points emerge ? W hat would you want the reader to remember ? ) Reference s (Harvard Referencing Format in alphabetical order) Please also note the following : Please take the given feedback for assessment one into consideration Follow Harvard Referencing throughout your work (in your in-text citations and your reference list) T he work should be critical and analytical. This is a level 7 qualification . It is not too late to make aware of yourself about the level seven expectations. Wider research and reading is mandatory Use only academic, professional sources which are RELIABLE and RELEVANT - journal articles, books, information from Government websites ( REFRAIN from using information from Blogs, commercial websites such as tutor2.com, UK Essays, businessballs.com etc ..) Get someone to proof read or peer mark your work Be aware of issues related to plagiarism and academic misconduct. You can upload your work to NILE site prior to the deadline and view your similarity report. The focus of assessment two is to discuss how the chosen topics impact on organizational culture of the case study organization . This must be kept in mind when writing up your report. Focus on your academic writing and also ask yourself Does the introduction say what I am planning to do in my assignment? Does my work reflect critical and analytical thinking in relation to linking the chosen topic with organizational culture ? Have I addressed the assessment task? Any deviations? Does the conclusion link to my discussion and introduction? Please refer to learning and development and library support web pages for further support and guidance.

A Study Of The Superiority Of Man Over The Environment As Depicted In Never Cry Wolf

A Study Of The Superiority Of Man Over The Environment As Depicted In Never Cry Wolf Man over Nature? In Never Cry Wolf Ootek tells Farley a legend that links man, wolves, and caribou in a perfectly balanced, continuos, natural cycle. Nevertheless, the whole novel uncovers the sad truth that man has altered this unique cycle and its own denial of it threatens to destroy it. This theme, suggests the idea that man, although being a part of nature, has abused the power that was granted to him only to have a better life at the expense of other living beings. In Ooteks tale, man is clearly referred as a superior being who plays the main role in nature. For example, the woman in the story and her sons, which in a way represent humanity, are given the caribou as a gift from the gods, a gift that would supply all their needs. so the sons of the Woman hunted well, and they were fed and clothed and had good skins to live in, all from the caribou (Mowat 84). In the same way, nature has provided humanity entirely with all its needs in a way where it can coexist harmonically with the living things around it. People, in a somewhat self-centric way, have viciously transformed the natural world for their own good in order to supply themselves with superficial things. Nevertheless, though hominids basically make nature work for their profit, they too form a part of it. On the other hand, man has surpassed its use of nature and has begun to destroy the delicate cycle it forms. No one can deny, how civilization has basically stripped jungles, polluted air and water, exterminated species and contaminated the land. The human beings have lost complete respect for nature and will probably have to face the consequences. It is incongruent to think that exploiting a planet will not end up harming all the living things that coexist together in it. In Never Cry Wolf, hunters face the problem of having few caribou to hunt. They immediately blame the wolves of being monstrous and obnoxious beats who savagely devour deer, and never stop to consider the possibility that this problem might be caused by their own addiction to make money by over killing animals. my predecessor supplied the Minister with an explanation of this situation in which it was his contention that there were fewer deer because the hunters had increased to the point where they outnumbered the deer about five to one. He was promptly shouted down by Members howling Liar! and Wolf-lover! (Mowat 9) The hunters in the story also lost respect for nature and the vital role the wolf plays in the life of the caribou. They decide to exterminate it. Slowly but surely, the lack of wolves will alter the caribou-wolf cycle by allowing the caribou population to grow weak and sick; this will eventually have repercussions on man himself. It could now be concluded, that man, as well as the hunters in Never Cry Wolf, have abused nature and have not tried to give something back by contributing to the circle of life. Because the discrimination against wolves, it cause an extensive rumor, numerous rumors, and several lies. Evidently the denial of this situation will soon backfire on man. This would bring out the question: why can man not look over his shoulder and care for others if this means caring for himself? It is now up to the future generations to become responsible for nature and give something back for all it has been taken from it.

Factory Girls Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Factory Girls - Essay Example Having read and comprehended Leslie T. Chang’s Factory Girls, I would like to categorically state that the decision of the girls to relocate from the village to the urban centers was a sign of progress. However, challenging it was, it put them in the right path of improving their lives and moving towards the achievement of their goals. Indeed, the living conditions in the rural China at the time were quite depressing. It was quite unpleasant for the young girls to live in deplorable conditions characterized poverty, hunger and other social agonies. This necessitated their move to the urban centers to look for jobs and better living conditions. Had it not been for their movement, they would not have managed to get employment opportunities, acquire new clothes, fashionable shoes, mobile phones and manage to send money back to their families. To explore this topic, I would like to use Lu Qingwin (Min) as a case study. After getting fed up with the poor living conditions in her rural home, she opts to immigrate to the urban centre. Here, she hopes to lead a totally new life. She is convinced that relocating to the town will enable her to get a job and enjoy the pleasant town life. Even if she is faced with several problems, such as poor living conditions in the overcrowded dormitories, loneliness, low wages, long working hours, late salary payments, heavy fining policy on petty offenses, she lands into a job. It was a sign of progress because it granted her a chance to improve her life, further her education through attending evening classes, make new friends like Huang Jiao’e and Liang Rong and get money to buy clothes and high-heeled shoes and send back to her poor parents in the village. Had she not gone to the town, she would not have acquired such level of exposure. These are things which were unheard of in th e villages

Has Football Become a Global Game Dissertation

Has Football Become a Global Game - Dissertation Example In a more progressive deregulated world of football, the organizations that generate spectator sports championships are being focused on and privatized under the pressures of an established market growth. This ideology for globalizing football and its promotion to Southeast Asia has been the momentum for new location approaches that influence all the different parties in football, private and public investors, governing bodies, public authorities, the common public and the leagues themselves. The features of each country's entertainment football industry are emphasized and employed to discard light on a social development that is underway since the inferences of global alteration in sports certainly go beyond football. The examination of developments football in Southeast Asia, in fact, seems to be a suitable means to gain insight into wider society and culture. After presenting the development and professionalization of football in Southeast Asia, this study will also examine the future plans of Fifa in Asian football industry. The study will then look at the significance of Southeast Asian football industry to the globalization of football as sports. The first part of the study is the literature review which features the different published materials regarding the changes in Football since 1990, the different football association like the Manchester United, TV coverage of European football across Asia, and Fifa’s plans in Southeast Asia. The second part will be the research methodology, after the data gathering, the data were analyzed in the third part that has given a strong conclusion in the final part. In the 1990’s Asia has its six countries participating in the football league and these are China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan and yet in football terms, only two Asian countries, Japan and Korea, are in the top 50 countries of the world (Kang, 2002).

Food crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Food crisis - Essay Example Adverse weather condition is associated with the increasing cost of goods due to prevailing lack of supplies or production. Krugman tries to emphasize that the origin and implication of food crisis is traced back to changing climate which resulted further to droughts and floods. The intense heat is said to be the reason why there is an ample amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. This is said to result to heavy raining which causes flood in certain parts of the world especially in the tropics. Krugman believes that this slows down food production that eventually becomes the greatest contributing factor of the recent food crisis. The issue of changing climate may not be far as reason to contribute to food crisis. In fact, the very thought about changing weather condition to affect food production and supply is very relevant enough as a reason. Heavy rain, typhoon and other environmental impacts brought by changing climate all over the world may not be far enough to affect production and supply of food. However, it seems that the issue of changing weather condition is just only in addition to the problem of food crisis. It cannot be entirely considered as the root cause of the problem on the lack of food production or supply in the world. There are prior issues to this that need to be considered that eventually have contributed to global food crisis. Population increase Food crisis is caused by rapidly increasing population in the world (Grigg, 1980). This is the reason why there is a need to come up with biotechnology and other related technological innovation in order to increase production and supply of foo d. Food production is necessary in order to meet the spiraling forward demand of the people. Increasing food production is eventually the answer to the number of world’s population and the corresponding demand for food. With biotechnology for instance, it has become a good idea to promote genetic modification of some plants and domestic animals in order to enhance their characteristics to eventually ensure more production. For instance, with BT corn technology, the plant’s characteristics are enhanced and improved to fight harmful pests and diseases. The result would be to enhance growth and production. There are certainly diseases of the corn that can be prevented when some genetic modification has to be implemented. This is just one of the good promises of advancing food production through innovation with science and technology. In short, the need to come up with this or undergo this level of process is highly associated with the rising demand for food because of the increase and demand of the world as its population continues to grow in number year after year. The world’s population in 2008 is different from 2010’s or 25 years from the past. There is certainly corresponding increase in number of the world’s population and this is a great contributing factor why shortage of food has become eminent. There are more people to be fed. This contributes to social, political and economic concerns of a nation. In general, this specific event calls for social, economic and political concerns as well. The issue of distribution Some says that food crisis is caused by significantly simple political and economical issue more than anything else. There are some countries that are said to be not so willing to distribute to the world what they essentially have with them. This primarily involves the issue of food distribution. There is reputed issue about food distribution today and from the past. This makes food crisis not just a matter of availability of food but of distribution. Some countries eventually are not that willing to share what they have especially the raw materials in food production. China for instance is

Movie Wo Ai Ni Mommy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Movie Wo Ai Ni Mommy - Essay Example (Soe, 1997, p.3) They derive many cinematic elements from early Asian American films, but also include â€Å"souped-up mise-en-scenes, techno soundtracks and ultra-hip young characters...the stories are ultimately about identity, cultural confusion and finding one's own voice and desires, all of which have been recurrent themes in Asian American films past and present.† (Soe, 1997, p.3) Thesis: In the case of Wo Ai Ni Mommy, we witness some of these cinematic elements, along with unique filmmaking style of the director Stephanie Wang-Breal. Complex issues of loss, memory, family anomie and alienation are all integral parts of the Asian American film genre. In recent years though, Asian American filmmakers have produced an interesting body of work which are largely documentaries or experimental work. The new tribe of young directors, â€Å"linked by youth and their impressive technical skills, explores themes and issues common to Asian American films and videos from years past .† (Soe, 1997, p.3) And the movie titled Wo Ai Ni Mommy by Stephanie Wang-Breal should be studied in this backdrop. ... or example, Wang-Breal also doubles up as a translator between Faith and her new parents, as the former struggles to get acclimatized with new socio-cultural norms. Usually documentary filmmakers take a passive role in the process of film-making, in that they do not affect the audio/visual information being captured. But in the case of Wang-Breal, by virtue of being the only remaining link to Faith’s Chinese heritage, also assumes the role of the young ward’s confidante and interlocutor. It should also be noted that Asian American filmmaking is not one homogenous concept, but rather consists of vastly diverse constituencies in which â€Å"recent immigrants, native-born citizens, community activists, documentarians, avant-garde artists, film students, Asiaphiles and cineastes all claim valid rights. The complexity of the Asian American community has always influenced and affected the work of its filmmakers. As this community becomes more diverse, it will require even gr eater skill and acuity to accurately reflect the ever-evolving state of Asian American media arts.† (Soe, 1997, p.3) It has been an endeavor of early Asian American filmmakers to present their authentic ‘voice’ in their works. This is certainly evident in Wo Ai Ni Mommy too, where director Stephanie Wang-Breal’s original voice comes across to the audience. Within the limitations of a documentary project, the director manages to raise important issues facing adopted Chinese kids such as Faith. While Faith is obviously the protagonist of the film, her new parents Donna and Jeff are also given key coverage. Indeed Donna’s early experiences with Faith were very challenging. But the later transformation of Faith into an English-speaking American kid is in large part due to the efforts of Donna. A

Arizona Tewa Kiva Speech as a Manifestation of Linguistic Ideology Essay

Arizona Tewa Kiva Speech as a Manifestation of Linguistic Ideology - Essay Example (298) He reports that Tewa were a Pueblo Indian group â€Å"which removed itself from Spanish influence in 1700 by migrating to the eastern most of the Hope Mesas† (298) In order to maintain their distinct culture they 1) resisted linguistic borrowing from other languages and 2) were the only out migrating group to retain its’ language into the present. The language preservation has been achieved through the Tewa control of â€Å"kiva† speech which is the religious ceremonial speech common to all Pueblo societies. The instruments of control are 1) regulation by convention 2) indigenous purity 3) strict compartmentalization and 4) linguistic indexing of identity. Regulation by Convention Ritual performances rely on fixed prayer and song texts with no tolerance for innovation. This is also manifested in everyday speech preferences, for example by greeting formulae. Also in traditional stories â€Å"audience members and performers alike have a tradition which emplo ys stylized non-verbal accompaniment and uses familiar story telling conventions,† for example the repeated use of â€Å"ba† as a genre making equivalent to our â€Å"so they say†. Such conventions must be followed even if narrators chose to contextualize their stories for specific audiences, or the content and narrator are non traditional in order for audience acceptance Indigenous Purity and Strict Compartmentalization. The author reports that the Tewa have a strict prohibition against the inclusion of foreign words and non kiva Tewa words in kiva ceremonies. This he contends is prompted by the â€Å"need for stylized consistency â€Å" in a conventional liturgical speech level, rather than indicating xenophobia against foreign languages. (302) By a trickle down effect the prohibition against foreign words prevails in everyday speech patterns as well. There is also a strict compartmentalization in Tewa linguistic ideology with â€Å"kiva talk† strictly segregated from both foreign influence and everyday Tewa language in order to preserve its’ sanctity. While examination of linguistic data supports the conclusion that few foreign words have been incorporated into Tewa language, there is evidence of grammatical convergence. Linguistic Indexing of Identity The author states that in Tewa society â€Å"a person’s speech behavior expresses important information the speaker’s identity†. This relates to his or her positional rather than personal identity. For example, â€Å"a conventional component of public announcements is the explicit announcement by the chanter of his mediating status as spokesman.† (306) Conclusion Kroskrity concludes by claiming â€Å"linguistic ideology presents an account which captures the cultural unity of otherwise disparate linguistic norms† and justifies the opening quote of this summary.(311) Since in Tewa society both religious and political leadership is concentra ted in kiva ceremonies, their linguistic ideology provides an insight into how power and social control are exercised. The â€Å"Father Knows Best† Dynamic in Dinnertime Narratives Introduction This article â€Å"addresses gender asymmetry in middle class European American families through an examination of a simple social activity narrating ( a story or a report) over family dinner† on the basis of the Father Knows Best dynamic where father is typically set up to be primary audience, judge, and center of family members actions, conditions, thoughts, and feelings as was the case for this well known 1950s ( 101 )TV sitcom. In spite of more recent feminist ideology, this family power dynamic appears to still prevail. Methodology The author’s study focuses on dinnertime communication patterns of 7 two-parent families earning under $40.000 per annum between 1987 and 1989.( 102 ) Each family had a 5 year old child who

Food crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Food crisis - Essay Example Adverse weather condition is associated with the increasing cost of goods due to prevailing lack of supplies or production. Krugman tries to emphasize that the origin and implication of food crisis is traced back to changing climate which resulted further to droughts and floods. The intense heat is said to be the reason why there is an ample amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. This is said to result to heavy raining which causes flood in certain parts of the world especially in the tropics. Krugman believes that this slows down food production that eventually becomes the greatest contributing factor of the recent food crisis. The issue of changing climate may not be far as reason to contribute to food crisis. In fact, the very thought about changing weather condition to affect food production and supply is very relevant enough as a reason. Heavy rain, typhoon and other environmental impacts brought by changing climate all over the world may not be far enough to affect production and supply of food. However, it seems that the issue of changing weather condition is just only in addition to the problem of food crisis. It cannot be entirely considered as the root cause of the problem on the lack of food production or supply in the world. There are prior issues to this that need to be considered that eventually have contributed to global food crisis. Population increase Food crisis is caused by rapidly increasing population in the world (Grigg, 1980). This is the reason why there is a need to come up with biotechnology and other related technological innovation in order to increase production and supply of foo d. Food production is necessary in order to meet the spiraling forward demand of the people. Increasing food production is eventually the answer to the number of world’s population and the corresponding demand for food. With biotechnology for instance, it has become a good idea to promote genetic modification of some plants and domestic animals in order to enhance their characteristics to eventually ensure more production. For instance, with BT corn technology, the plant’s characteristics are enhanced and improved to fight harmful pests and diseases. The result would be to enhance growth and production. There are certainly diseases of the corn that can be prevented when some genetic modification has to be implemented. This is just one of the good promises of advancing food production through innovation with science and technology. In short, the need to come up with this or undergo this level of process is highly associated with the rising demand for food because of the increase and demand of the world as its population continues to grow in number year after year. The world’s population in 2008 is different from 2010’s or 25 years from the past. There is certainly corresponding increase in number of the world’s population and this is a great contributing factor why shortage of food has become eminent. There are more people to be fed. This contributes to social, political and economic concerns of a nation. In general, this specific event calls for social, economic and political concerns as well. The issue of distribution Some says that food crisis is caused by significantly simple political and economical issue more than anything else. There are some countries that are said to be not so willing to distribute to the world what they essentially have with them. This primarily involves the issue of food distribution. There is reputed issue about food distribution today and from the past. This makes food crisis not just a matter of availability of food but of distribution. Some countries eventually are not that willing to share what they have especially the raw materials in food production. China for instance is

Arizona Tewa Kiva Speech as a Manifestation of Linguistic Ideology Essay

Arizona Tewa Kiva Speech as a Manifestation of Linguistic Ideology - Essay Example (298) He reports that Tewa were a Pueblo Indian group â€Å"which removed itself from Spanish influence in 1700 by migrating to the eastern most of the Hope Mesas† (298) In order to maintain their distinct culture they 1) resisted linguistic borrowing from other languages and 2) were the only out migrating group to retain its’ language into the present. The language preservation has been achieved through the Tewa control of â€Å"kiva† speech which is the religious ceremonial speech common to all Pueblo societies. The instruments of control are 1) regulation by convention 2) indigenous purity 3) strict compartmentalization and 4) linguistic indexing of identity. Regulation by Convention Ritual performances rely on fixed prayer and song texts with no tolerance for innovation. This is also manifested in everyday speech preferences, for example by greeting formulae. Also in traditional stories â€Å"audience members and performers alike have a tradition which emplo ys stylized non-verbal accompaniment and uses familiar story telling conventions,† for example the repeated use of â€Å"ba† as a genre making equivalent to our â€Å"so they say†. Such conventions must be followed even if narrators chose to contextualize their stories for specific audiences, or the content and narrator are non traditional in order for audience acceptance Indigenous Purity and Strict Compartmentalization. The author reports that the Tewa have a strict prohibition against the inclusion of foreign words and non kiva Tewa words in kiva ceremonies. This he contends is prompted by the â€Å"need for stylized consistency â€Å" in a conventional liturgical speech level, rather than indicating xenophobia against foreign languages. (302) By a trickle down effect the prohibition against foreign words prevails in everyday speech patterns as well. There is also a strict compartmentalization in Tewa linguistic ideology with â€Å"kiva talk† strictly segregated from both foreign influence and everyday Tewa language in order to preserve its’ sanctity. While examination of linguistic data supports the conclusion that few foreign words have been incorporated into Tewa language, there is evidence of grammatical convergence. Linguistic Indexing of Identity The author states that in Tewa society â€Å"a person’s speech behavior expresses important information the speaker’s identity†. This relates to his or her positional rather than personal identity. For example, â€Å"a conventional component of public announcements is the explicit announcement by the chanter of his mediating status as spokesman.† (306) Conclusion Kroskrity concludes by claiming â€Å"linguistic ideology presents an account which captures the cultural unity of otherwise disparate linguistic norms† and justifies the opening quote of this summary.(311) Since in Tewa society both religious and political leadership is concentra ted in kiva ceremonies, their linguistic ideology provides an insight into how power and social control are exercised. The â€Å"Father Knows Best† Dynamic in Dinnertime Narratives Introduction This article â€Å"addresses gender asymmetry in middle class European American families through an examination of a simple social activity narrating ( a story or a report) over family dinner† on the basis of the Father Knows Best dynamic where father is typically set up to be primary audience, judge, and center of family members actions, conditions, thoughts, and feelings as was the case for this well known 1950s ( 101 )TV sitcom. In spite of more recent feminist ideology, this family power dynamic appears to still prevail. Methodology The author’s study focuses on dinnertime communication patterns of 7 two-parent families earning under $40.000 per annum between 1987 and 1989.( 102 ) Each family had a 5 year old child who

Letter from Birmingham Jail Literary Analys Essay Example for Free

Letter from Birmingham Jail Literary Analys Essay Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail,† was written in 1963; during the time African Americans were fighting for equality among races. We can tell this by the vocabulary used in his writing such as â€Å"Negro,† which was used at one time, and is no longer considered, â€Å"politically correct. â€Å" The purpose for the letter is that Martin Luther King Jr. was trying to convince the white clergymen that him and his â€Å"People’s† actions were completely unnecessary for the situation. When doing this, he uses critical and persuasive tones to try to influence the reader to agree with him. Martin Luther King Jr. provides a valid argument using logos, pathos, and ethos throughout his letter. The use of comparison in Dr. King’s letter makes the African American’s trouble of segregation seems, just about holy. He compares being arrested for his peaceful but illegal actions to the crucifixion of Jesus for his â€Å"unique God-consciousness and never-ceasing devotion.† Martin Luther King, Jr. ties himself to God by suggesting that above constitutional rights and legal laws are God-given rights, and these rights are the ones that he and his followers are supporting. He says that just laws, are laws that â€Å"Square with moral law or the law of God.† King resumes this religious association in his last paragraph, where he mentions blacks who conduct sit-ins as â€Å"children of God† who stand up for â€Å"the most scare Values in our Judeo-Christian heritage.† These similarities make Dr. King and his men seem to be fighting an almost heavenly cause, one that has the support of God and of history. King also uses his voice through writing to educe emotion. Aside from his associations to God and Socrates, which may help religious readers better connect to his message, Martin Luther King Jr., writes about the emotional suffering that blacks went through due to segregation and prejudice. He replies to whites telling blacks to â€Å"wait† for desegregation by bringing up several murders committed by whites on blacks, including lynching, drowning, and police cruelty. He continues on these emotional out looks by expressing how children begin to become disturbed by segregation when they realize that they are considered lesser to whites. King uses definite examples, such as a daughter who finds out that she can’t visit an amusement park because it is closed to colored children, and a son who asks, â€Å"Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?† He shows how the build-up of these thoughts in black children eventually turn into hatred for whites when he says, â€Å"There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair.† All of these statements help the reader see just how blacks were disturbed beyond decency and rightfulness. King’s use of emotional writing helps readers develop sympathy for the segregated. Martin Luther King Jr., is trying to tell the white clergymen what he feels they are doing wrong. He uses so many different emotional pulls at the attempt to grab their attention. He does a great job of doing this through referring to the bible and about children. Through the use of rhetorical strategies, Martin Luther King Jr. countered the clergymens argument. He also got their attention due to his unique strategy of directly addressing his readers, the clergymen, to create the base of his argument. From there, King is able to shatter his opponents claims. This way of arguing allowed King to present his argument with more authority to achieve his goal: justify the reasons for nonviolent demonstrations against segregation. I feel as if Martin Luther King’s â€Å"Letter From Birmingham Jail† had a great impact on the rights of black people during his time. The fact that is still read today proves it’s a great piece of writing. From my point of view he was in the right with every opinion he expressed; I honestly don’t see how you couldn’t agree with him. His writing is not only changing the world, but is entertainment to read. In the closing of his letter he says â€Å"I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that the circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as integrationist or a civil-rights leader but as a fellow clergymen and a Christian brother.† This is the hope of many people; we are getting closer each day to having his hope become a reality. I believe this letter had a huge impact on many people’s lives, and will continue to change the world.

The Challenger Shuttle Disaster Engineering Essay

The Challenger Shuttle Disaster Engineering Essay Abstract The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a global leader in the field of space flight and space science. NASA as an organization is exclusive in terms of mission, vision, objectives, magnitude, control, risk, and complexity. NASAs space flight program is the most complex and difficult task in their history. It is well known that the accident of Challenger space shuttle on 28th January 1986 was attributed to organizational failure. The breakdown of Columbia space shuttle in February 2003 points out again how even minute details play important roles in complex and high risk organizations. Many major organizational failures are result of poor decision making, adverse conditions, and poor assumptions. This paper focuses on Challenger Columbia space shuttle disaster, and validation behind calling it as an organizational failure. If NASA is sincerely thinking about reducing failure, they should consider organizational change to reduce probability of occurrence of such m ishaps. Introduction An organization exists when a group of people work together to achieve goals (Daft, 2007). Organizations are all around us and shape our lives in many ways. Organizations can be classified on the basis of scope, size, clientele, and nature of services. Even though the work culture of every organization is different, the basic principle of operation is same. With rapid globalization, there is added pressure on organizations to outperform each other. The pressure on a firm is the direct pressure on employees to perform. Every individual react to this pressure differently and at times can affect decision making skills in a poor manner. Organizational failure can be described as a single major incident, or chain of incidents, resulting from the action or inaction of individuals associated with the organization (Gillespie and Dietz, 2009). Organizational failures are unavoidable, and it can be consequence of a single cause. The enormity of failure depends upon number of causes. The basic reasons for organizational failures are poor planning, management, and corporate culture. Organizational characteristics of NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), an organization with 18,000 employees and a budget of US$ 15 billion was set up in 1958. It is exclusive in the terms of size, mission, and motivations. The motivation factor ranged from winning the SOVIET/US space battle during the 1960s, to becoming a leader in all the areas of spaceflight and space science at present. NASA is considered to be a closely path dependent organization (Bruggeman, 2002). Path dependence implies to the inclination of an organization to make decisions based on their history. During 1960s space race between United States and Soviet Union for technological superiority, cost concerns were less important. During this period the importance of human spaceflight for a successful space program was realized. There were significant budget cuts for NASA by the end of the cold war era; even then the focus was on human spaceflight. To counter budget cuts, some portions of the shuttle program were contracted out to private suppliers (Hall, 2003). The key point is that, even today space shuttle is an experimental vehicle. Lessons are still learned from each shuttle returning to earth. The official development stage for the space shuttle was from 1980 to 1982. After that period, it was considered operational, but still shuttle engineers had contradicting opinions. They considered it to be a developmental aircraft because of constantly changing technology and inexplicable problems that cannot be predicted from design. The unexpected problems continued to occur during shuttle missions, but no disasters occurred. Due to budget constraints, management was not keen on finding the root causes of the problem. NASA allowed these technical flaws to pass, as analyses were costly and time consuming. Even at the suppliers end, due to incessant production pressure, problems were often neglected. The Challenger Tragedy On 28 January 1986, around seventy-six seconds into the mission, the Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed, killing all seven crew members (Rogers Commission report, 1986). This happened due to a design flaw in shuttles solid rocket booster and disintegration of an O-ring on its right solid rocket booster (Lighthall, 1991). The problems mentioned above were significant, but there were many other reasons which contributed to the destruction of Columbia space shuttle. Components of Shuttle The Columbia space shuttle, officially called as Space Transportation System (STS), has three major components; the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), and two Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) motors as shown in Figure 1. Orbiter It is a winged craft that carries astronauts and payloads (satellites or space station) into space and travel back to land on a runway. However, to get additional thrust, two large Solid Rocket Boosters are provided, each attached to the sides of external tank (shown in Figure 1), as Orbiter alone does not provide enough thrust. Figure 1: Challenger Space Shuttle (Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster, 2003) Components of the Space Shuttle The three components are attached together during shuttle assembly, whereas the field joints between the sections contain two rubber O-rings. The purpose of O-rings is to fill the field joints and prevent hot gases from escaping. The solid rockets are cheaper and less complicated than liquid- fuel rocket engines. The biggest disadvantage of solid rocket is that it cannot be tuned off once ignited. External Tank The purpose of external tank is to carry liquid fuel for the three engines located in the aft section of the orbiter. The lower two third of the tank carries liquid hydrogen with the upper one third containing liquid oxygen. Cold Temperature Concern for O-rings Before the launch of Columbia shuttle, no experimentation was conducted on space shuttles at temperatures below 51 F (11 C). The air temperature dropped to 18 F (- 8 C) in the night and 36 F (2 C) in the morning before the launch. Even Morton Thiokol, the contractor for construction and maintenance of shuttle SRBs had insufficient data on performance of boosters at lower temperatures. There were some other notable factors which are discussed as follows: 1. The external tank was filled with -423 F (-253 C) liquid hydrogen and -300 F (-184 C) liquid oxygen. The cold breeze in the night and morning before the shuttle launch changed air in external tank to super-cooled state and moved it down to the ground. 2. It was known that passing of cold breeze results in formation of external tank. This observation was not unusual because it happened during warm temperatures also. The direction of wind was western-northwestern that day, resulting in super cooled air to slide down directly to the lower portion of the right SFB. 3. To measure the thickness of ice layer on the external tank, infrared cameras were used by the ground staff before every launch. On the day of the launch, a temperature of 8 F (-13 C) was recorded at the aft field joint of the right SRB. The ground staff did not pass this vital information to the management. Figure 2: Challenger Space Shuttle (Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster, 2003) All these factors contributed to the malfunctioning of primary and secondary O-ring causing hot exhaust gases at the temperature of 6000 F (3315 C) to escape from the rocket chamber and led to catastrophic incident. Poor Decision Making Before the launch of the Challenger space shuttle, a teleconference was held between Morton Thiokol, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to decide whether it should be launched or not. The engineers at Thiokol were not in the favor of the launch because of their apprehensions on the performance of O-rings in cold weather conditions (Hall, 2003). However, before the launch of Challenger there were many cases of O-ring damage (Dalal, Fowlkes, and Hoadley, 1989). Due to immense production pressure, the Thiokol engineers were not able to find the root causes, and justify their arguments with substantial evidence. The graphs presented during the teleconference were vague and confusing. Furthermore in their rush to get ready for the conference call, the engineering team erroneously included slides which were previously used for Flight Readiness Review (FRR) to claim that O-rings would not be a problem (Tufte, 1997). The management was not convinced with the case and decided to launch the shuttle. The report on the challenger space shuttle disaster states, After the shuttle became operational in 1980, the workforce and functions of several shuttle safety, reliability, and quality assurance offices were reduced. A safety committee, the Space Shuttle Program Crew Safety Panel, ceased to exist at that time (Leveson, 1995). Recommendations Collaboration with Suppliers: NASA needs to change the conventional thinking about sourcing. The Collaborative sourcing approach is different from the traditional approach on sourcing. The traditional sourcing technique is all about squeezing the supplier to make profit. In collaborative sourcing both buyer and supplier craft a joint vision to achieve their objectives. They should emphasize on improving product and line processes by concurrent engineering, combined testing, and root cause engineering for error finding and rectification (Helper, MacDuffie, and Sabel, 2009). Role of Hierarchy at NASA: A grave problem with NASA was its complicated corporate culture. NASA, which was a research institute, had become a platform, which was used by politicians for their promotion. The management should have understood that minute details play a crucial role in research organization like NASA. Even the decision to launch Challenger was influenced by government officials. As, President, Regan was scheduled to give his State of the Union Address the next night in which he intended to speak about astronaut Christa McAuliffe (Hall, 2003). NASA needs to develop a system for engineers to overcome the bureaucracy and hierarchy. By this way they wont be asked to defend their concerns and intuitions. Importance to minor problems: Acceptance of deviations from standard was one major reason for the challenger disaster. The nature of work carried out at NASA is very sensitive and therefore the specification of tolerance to abnormalities should be suitably low. The O-ring problem was frequent, but management persisted with it on the grounds that it does not possess flight safety risk. If the engineers had succeeded in convincing the management to replace the damaged O-rings, loss of life and vehicle could have been averted. Following steps are recommended for problem analysis: 1. Find the significance and basis of the problem. 2. Prepare a full proof action plan to rectify the problem. 3. All the parameters should be tested against variables like temperature, wind, humidity etc. 4. Importance to Problem Reporting and Corrective Action (PRACA). Conclusions The Challenger shuttle disaster presents various issues that are relevant from engineering management standpoint. One of the key points is change in perspective of engineers who are now placed at managerial positions. It is vital for managers not to overlook their own engineering work experience, or the knowledge of their assistants. A lot of times, even managers with engineering background are not up to date about the latest advancement in the field of engineering. The managers should realize this while taking any decision on technical matters. Another important aspect is the role of ethics in engineering management. The job of engineer is to design, and along with it comes the responsibility that the product or service designed is safe for customers. It is the ethical responsibility of engineers to acknowledge mistakes and present unaltered data to the management. Further, the management decision can have a positive result or negative impact on organizations reputation.